pilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllliM 


Why  We  Fight 


BY 

CLARENCE  L.  SPEED 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB 
OF  CHICAGO 
1918 

After  you  have  read  this  pamphlet  please  pass  it  on  in  order  that 
the  message  it  carries  may  reach  the  largest 
number  of  persons 


□  IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIM 


Clarence  L.  Speed  has  for  many 
years  been  engaged  in  newspaper 
work  in  Chicago.  He  long  served 
as  city  editor  of  the  Chicago  Rec¬ 
ord-Herald,  and  as  financial  edi¬ 
tor,  city  editor  and  editorial  writ¬ 
er  of  the  Chicago  Evening  Post. 
The  nature  of  his  work  made 
necessary  on  his  part  a  careful 
study  of  the  Great  War  from  the 
day  of  its  inception,  and  his  con¬ 
clusions  as  to  the  basic  causes 
which  forced  America  into  it,  to¬ 
gether  with  the  evidence  from 
German  sources  on  which  they 
are  based,  are  herein  set  forth. 


Copies  may  be  obtained  of  the  War  Committee  of  the  Union  League  Club 
Chicago,  at  the  following  prices,  delivery  prepaid: 


Single  copies . . . 5  cents  each 

One  hundred  copies . 2  cents  each 

One  thousand  copies . . . 1  cent  each 


Why  We  Fight 


CLARENCE  L.  SPEED 


The  Union  League  Club 
of  Chicago 
1918 


UfflUfflUOf'- 


I 


7 ,yp.  31 1 


BECAUSE  GERMANY,  FOR  YEARS,  HAS  BEEN  MAKING 
TREACHEROUS  WAR  ON  US 


One  of  the  deep,  underlying  reasons — not  just  a  diplomatic  pretext 
— why  we  are  at  war  with  Germany  is  that  for  a  generation  Germany 
has  been  making  war  on  us.  Germany  has  made  this  war  not  openly, 
bravely  or  humanely,  but  secretly,  treacherously  and  persistently.  She 
has  sought  to  create  race  discord,  to  corrupt  and  defile  politicians  and 
office-holders,  and  to  create  separate  German  communities  within  our 
borders.  She  has  poisoned  the  minds  of  children  in  our  schools  in 
an  endeavor  to  make  Germans  of  them  instead  of  have  them  grow  up 
into  loyal  American  citizens.  She  has  invaded  the  sacredness  of  the 
pulpit  itself  in  an  endeavor  to  corrupt  our  people  through  the  very 
leaders  of  morality  to  whom  they  are  accustomed  to  look  for  guid¬ 
ance. 

These  may  be  startling  assertions,  but  they  are  all  true,  as  you 
shall  see  from  the  documents  of  the  Germans  themselves.  We  all  know 
that  it  was  a  German  fleet  which  stripped  for  action  when  Dewey 
sailed  into  Manila  bay.  We  all  know  it  was  the  Germans  who  sought 
to  bring  about  a  European  alliance  against  us  when  we  were  engaged 
in  the  war  with  Spain.  Few  of  us  realized,  however,  that  all  these 
years  Germany  has  been  busy  within  our  own  borders,  through  editors, 
teachers  and  preachers,  seeking  to  break  down  our  national  unity,  so 
that  when  the  time  came  it  would  be  easy  to  defeat  the  United  States 
in  open  warfare,  to  set  at  naught  our  cherished  Monroe  Doctrine,  and 
to  seize,  in  the  western  hemisphere,  anything  that  the  land  grabbing 
rulers  of  the  German  Empire  might  desire. 

CITIZENS  OF  DOUBLE  ALLEGIANCE 

The  climax  of  Germany’s  underhanded  war  on  the  United  States 
came  in  1913,  more  than  a  year  before  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  in 
Europe.  This  was  the  enactment  of  what  is  known  as  the  Delbruck 
law,  which  provides  that  if  an  emigrant  from  Germany  who  is  about 
to  be  naturalized  makes  application  to  a  German  consul,  he  may  retain 


6  Why  We  Fight 

his  German  citizenship  even  after  he  has  become  a  citizen  of  his  adopted 
country. 

In  plain  words,  this  law  and  the  application  of  it  mean  just  this: 

A  German  goes  into  court  in  this  country  and  solemnly  foreswears 
allegiance  to  the  kaiser  and  pledges  his  word — the  temptation  was  to 
say,  “of  honor” — that  he  will  become  a  loyal  citizen  of  the  United 
States.  Then  he  slips  around  to  the  German  consul  and  says: 

“You  know  I  didn’t  mean  that,  at  all.  Those  Americans  are  easy 
marks,  and  they  fell  for  that  stuff  right  off.  But  you  may  put  me 
down  on  your  list  as  a  good,  loyal  German,  and  if  the  time  ever 
comes  when  I  can  prove  it,  you  can  count  on  me.” 

So  the  German  consul  puts  his  name  down  in  the  little  card  index 
of  which  the  Germans  are  so  fond,  and  this  man, — this  creature  who 
swears  allegiance  to  the  country  which  gives  him  an  opportunity  to 
make  a  real  living  and  to  become  somebody  in  this  world,  and  at  the 
same  time  swears  secretly  to  be  true  to  Germany — is  turned  loose  to 
work  his  will,  while  Americans  go  carelessly  about  their  business  and 
refuse  to  see  the  danger  in  the  arrangement. 

TRAITORS  LEFT  TO  PLOT  IN  AMERICA 

Then  along  comes  the  world  war.  America’s  sympathy  is  at  once 
given  to  little  Belgium,  to  Serbia,  to  France  and  to  England.  It  be¬ 
comes  apparent,  however,  that  there  are  many  Germans  in  this  country 
who  are  loyal  to  Germany  rather  than  to  the  United  States.  Industrial 
plants  are  blown  up,  strikes  are  fomented,  bridges  are  dynamited,  and 
ships  sunk  in  American  harbors. 

Finally  the  United  States  is  forced  into  the  war.  The  German 
ambassador  and  the  German  consuls  are  allowed,  because  the  United 
States  even  makes  war  like  a  gentleman,  to  pack  up  all  their  little 
card  indexes  and  go  home,  taking  with  them  the  lists  of  hundreds — 
perhaps  thousands — of  men  who  have  sworn  to  become  loyal  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  and  then  have  secretly  promised  to  serve  the 
kaiser. 

• 

Can  you  imagine  Germany  allowing  American  consuls  to  take  any 
such  list  of  spies  and  traitors  out  of  that  country?  Would  any  such 
“scrap  of  paper”  as  a  diplomatic  treaty  have  prevented  their  searching 
the  documents  of  American  consuls  if  the  United  States  had  any  such 


Why  We  Fight 


7 


law,  and  there  were  millions  of  Americans  going  and  coming  at  will  in 
Germany  after  war  was  declared? 

Of  course  the  Delbruck  law  applied  to  Germans  who  became  nat¬ 
uralized  citizens  of  Brazil  or  Argentina  or  any  other  country  as  well. 
The  German  lust  for  world  conquest  was  no  respecter  of  nations.  In 
fact,  it  was  aimed  as  much  at  certain  South  American  nations  as  at 
the  United  States,  and,  had  the  world  war  been  delayed  a  year  or  two 
longer,  would  have  so  Germanized  large  sections  of  Brazil  that  a 
revolution  in  favor  of  Germany  might  have  been  easy  of  accomplish¬ 
ment. 

SOUGHT  TO  PREVENT  AMERICANIZATION  OF  IMMIGRANTS 

Long  before  the  passage  of  the  Delbruck  law,  there  was  formed 
the  Verein  fur  das  Deutschtum  im  Ausland — the  Union  for  Germanism 
in  Foreign  Lands.  This  organization,  officially  fostered  in  Germany, 
published  a  quarterly  magazine,  which,  in  its  very  first  issue,  outlined 
its  aims  as  follows: 

“The  purpose  of  this  Union  is  the  preservation  and  promotion  of 
the  Germanism  of  over  30,000,000  people  of  German  blood  dwelling 
outside  the  German  Empire.”  All  it  aims  to  do,  you  see,  is  to  keep 
Germans  who  come  to  this  country  from  becoming  Americans. 

Again,  in  another  issue  of  the  quarterly,  Statsminister  Hentig  writes : 

“The  organization  of  peoples  within  states  and  their  political  rela¬ 
tions  to  each  other  do  not  include  all  their  phases  of  life.  Deep 
beneath  the  soil  on  which  can  work  political  power  and  the  laws  of 
state  lie  the  roots  of  national  impulses  and  national  sentiments.” 

Think  of  it!  This  from  the  same  nation  which  has  so  ruthlessly 
persecuted  the  Poles  and  inhabitants  of  Alsace-Lorraine  in  an  effort  to 
make  Germans  out  of  them  against  their  will! 

Away  back  in  1890  the  Alldeutscher  Verband,  or  the  Pan-German 
League,  was  formed.  It  now  consists  of  268  chapters  of  which  two 
now  are — or  at  least  were  immediately  before  the  war — in  the  United 
States,  one  in  New  York  and  one  in  San  Francisco.  To  quote  from 
the  Alldeutsche  Blatter ,  its  official  publication,  “the  Pan-German  League 
is  founded  for  promoting  German  National  interests  both  in  Germany 
and  in  foreign  lands.” 

In  the  United  States  this  organization  worked  actively  to  foster 
German  national  aims  through  the  German  language  press.  It  encour- 


8 


Why  We  Fight 


aged  the  teaching  of  German  national  aims  in  the  schools,  in  the 
churches,  in  the  German  social  and  athletic  societies.  All  of  this  is 
told  of  with  that  characteristic  German  frankness  in  the  official  publica¬ 
tions  of  the  organization,  open  for  the  whole  world  to  read. 

AMERICA  DISREGARDED  GERMAN  MENACE 

A  few  thinking  Americans  knew  all  the  time  what  was  coming — 
what  must  come.  But  America,  as  a  whole,  went  along  with  that  care¬ 
lessness  and  indifference  with  which  it  treats  all  things  unpleasant,  and 
allowed  this  German  war  on  our  most  sacred  institutions  to  continue 
unchecked. 

So  Germany  stands  today,  with  one  foot  on  prostrate  Belgium  and 
the  other  on  the  neck  of  poor,  deluded  Russia;  with  a  bayonet  planted 
in  the  heart  of  Serbia,  and  the  point  of  its  sword  at  the  throat  of 
Roumania,  while  it  looks  out  over  the  vassal  States  of  Bulgaria  and 
Turkey  to  India  and  the  Orient.  And  as  it  stands  thus,  it  cries  to  its 
foes  on  the  western  front: 

“Kamerad!  Why  go  on  with  all  this  killing?  Let’s  have  a  peace 
by  negotiation?”  and,  under  its  breath,  adds,  “I’ve  got  all  I  want  for 
the  present.” 

Can  we  talk  of  any  peace  until  such  a  Germany  is  absolutely  de¬ 
feated?  Shall  we  negotiate  a  peace  and  allow  all  these  German 
preparations  for  world  domination  to  go  on  until  the  time  is  ripe  for 
Germany  to  complete  its  conquests? 


II 


BECAUSE  GERMANY’S  LAW  IS  THE  LAW  OF  THE  JUN¬ 
GLE  AND  HER  DOCTRINE,  “MIGHT  IS  RIGHT” 


We  are  at  war  with  Germany  because  Prussia  dominates  Germany, 
and  from  the  days  of  Frederick  the  Great,  Prussia’s  law  has  been  the 
law  of  the  jungle,  her  doctrine  “Might  is  Right”  and  her  policy,  in 
dealing  with  other  nations,  one  of  robbing  the  weak  and  terrorizing 
the  strong.  Germany  has  grabbed  territory  and  exacted  tribute  from 
her  neighbors,  and  finally,  her  greed  becoming  greater,  has  looked  out 
over  more  distant  lands,  and  has  committed  herself  to  a  policy  of  world 
domination  which  menaces  the  continued  free  existence  of  every  nation 
which  will  not  submit  to  her  will. 

Germany’s  policy  is  not  an  accidental  one.  It  has  been  carried 
out  with  remarkable  singleness  of  purpose,  from  generation  to  genera¬ 
tion  of  Hohenzollern  rule,  from  the  time  of  the  Great  Frederick  until 
today.  Germany’s  atrocities  are  not  accidental.  They  are  a  deliberate, 
well  thought  out  part  of  this  Hohenzollern  policy,  which  was  to  break 
down  the  resistance  of  her  opponents,  not  only  by  fighting  and  defeat¬ 
ing  their  armies  but  by  killing,  torturing  and  terrorizing  the  civil 
populations. 

TEACH  MORAL  CODE  OF  THE  TIGER  . 

The  German  rulers  committed  themselves  to  the  doctrine  of  the 
survival  of  the  fittest.  Through  generations  of  teaching  they  made  the 
German  people  believe  that  they,  and  they  alone,  were  the  fit.  They 
built  up  the  world’s  greatest  war  machine,  and  so  perverted  German 
education  that  the  people  grew  to  believe  that  it  was  as  right  for  this 
machine  to  crush  out  all  opposition  as  the  tiger  in  the  jungle  would 
think,  could  he  think  at  all,  that  it  was  right  for  him  to  carry  off  and 
devour  a  baby  from  a  neighboring  village. 

We  have  the  words  of  the  German  rulers  and  German  warriors  and 
German  leaders  of  thought  for  all  of  this.  More  than  that,  we  have 
the  performance  of  German  officers  and  German  armies  in  conquered 
lands  to  prove  it. 


10 


Why  We  Fight 


Let’s  start  with  Frederick  the  Great  in  presenting  the  evidence. 
This  monarch,  who  earned  his  soubriquet  through  despoiling  his  neigh¬ 
bors,  rather  than  through  any  real  qualities  of  mind  which  he  showed, 
said,  in  a  letter  to  his  minister,  Radziwill: 

“If  there  is  anything  to  be  gained  by  it,  we  will  be  honest;  if 
deception  is  necessary,  let  us  be  cheats.  One  takes  what  one  can,  and 
one  is  wrong  only  when  obliged  to  give  back.” 

This  philosophy,  applied  to  present  conditions,  means  that  Germany 
was  right  when  she  took  Belgium,  and  will  be  wrong  only  if  she  is  not 
able  to  hold  it. 


Bismarck’s  policy  of  blood  and  iron 

From  Frederick  the  Great  to  Bismarck  is  a  long  jump  in  the  matter 
of  time;  but  we  find  the  Prussian  policy  unchanged.  Speaking  before 
the  military  committee  of  the  Prussian  Chamber  of  Deputies  in  1862 
Bismarck  said: 

“Not  by  speeches  and  resolutions  of  majorities  are  the  great  ques¬ 
tions  of  the  time  decided,  but  by  iron  and  blood.” 

Then,  with  blood  and  iron,  Prussia  went  out  and  despoiled  Den¬ 
mark  of  territory  in  1864,  beat  and  robbed  Austria  in  1866,  and  finally, 
in  1870,  brought  France  to  her  knees  and  took  her  richest  provinces. 

Creation  of  the  German  Empire  after  the  Franco-Prussian  war 
brought  problems  of  development  and  consolidation  at  home  which 
caused  Germany  to  keep  the  peace  for  some  time,  but  it  also  brought 
dreams  of  further  extension  of  German  power,  not  among  the  neigh¬ 
boring  states  of  Europe,  but  over  the  lands  of  the  earth  and  the  waters 
of  the  sea.  So  Germany  posed  as  a  peaceful  nation,  while  it  made 
plans  to  conquer  the  world,  and  talked  of  its  superior  culture — kultur 
it  is,  over  there — while  its  rulers  deliberately  taught  frightfulness  to 
its  military  men,  and  its  educators  taught  the  people  to  believe  that 
frightfulness  was  right. 

Here  is  what  the  present  kaiser  told  his  troops  when,  in  1900,  they 
were  about  to  depart  for  China  to  put  down  the  boxer  uprising: 

“Use  your  weapons  in  such  a  way  that  for  a  thousand  years  no 
Chinese  shall  dare  to  look  upon  a  German  askance.  Be  as  terrible  as 
Attilla’s  Huns.” 


Why  We  Fight 


11 


That  is  why  we  call  the  German  of  this  war  the  Hun.  His  own 
kaiser  gave  him  the  name. 

RIGHTS  OF  NEUTRALS  DISREGARDED 

Coming  on  down  to  the  present  war  we  find  neutral  lands  invaded, 
defenseless  cities  bombarded,  women  and  children  sent  to  death  with¬ 
out  warning  through  the  torpedoing  of  ships,  and  even  the  lifeboats 
in  which  hapless  survivors  attempt  to  escape,  shelled.  Such  is  the 
German  frightfulness  of  today.  But  even  this  is  not  enough.  We  find 
a  German  minister  accredited  to  a  neutral  state  far  across  the  sea, — one 
which  one  would  think  should  be  free  from  the  entanglements  of  world 
politics, — writing  home  to  his  government,  in  a  state  paper,  advising 
the  sinking  of  two  ships  from  this  neutral  nation,  in  such  a  manner 
that  no  trace  be  left.  Dead  men,  he  believed,  tell  no  tales. 

It  was  Baron  Luxburg,  minister  pleni-potentiary  to  Argentina,  who 
wrote  this  amazing  dispatch  on  May  19,  1917: 

“I  beg  that  the  small  steamers  Oran  and  Guazo  *  *  *  which  are 
nearing  Bordeaux  *  *  *  be  spared,  if  possible,  or  else  sunk  with¬ 

out  a  trace  being  left.” 

This  telegram  was  intercepted  in  the  United  States  and  published. 
It  sent  a  thrill  of  horror  around  the  world. 

Chancellor  von  Bethmann-Hollweg  is  a  true  disciple  of  Frederick 
the  Great,  Bismarck  and  his  royal  master.  In  a  public  speech  on  Jan¬ 
uary  31,  1917,  he  said: 

“When  the  most  ruthless  methods  are  calculated  to  lead  us  to 
victory,  swift  victory,  they  must  be  employed.” 

So  they  were  used,  and  are  being  used  today.  They  include  sinking 
of  hundreds  of  neutral  ships,  the  burning  of  cities,  the  deliberate 
devastating  of  the  fair  lands  of  France,  the  ravishing  of  women,  the 
enslavement  of  workmen  and  the  murder  of  little  children. 

HOW  GERMANY  TREATS  CONQUERED  LANDS 

Horrors  such  as  these  are  told  in  detail  in  “The  Prussian  System,” 
by  F.  C.  Walcott,  who,  for  a  long  time,  was  engaged  in  behalf  of 
America  in  trying  to  get  food  to  the  Poles  whom  the  Germans  were 
deliberately  starving  by  the  hundreds  of  thousands  so  that  they  might 
not  cumber  the  land  which  the  Germans  intended  to  occupy.  He  pref¬ 
aces  this  pamphlet  with  the  words,  “This  I  have  seen,”  and  goes  on  to 


12  Why  We  Fight 

quote  from  General  von  Kries,  who  was  in  command  at  Warsaw  and 
who  told  him: 

“By  starvation  we  can  accomplish  in  two  or  three  years  in  East 
Poland  more  than  we  have  in  West  Poland,  which  is  East  Prussia,  in 
the  last  hundred  years.  This  country  is  meant  for  Germany.  We 
propose  to  remove  the  able  bodied  working  Poles  from  this  country. 
It  leaves  it  open  for  the  inflow  of  German  working  people  as  fast  as 
we  can  spare  them.” 

Commenting  on  this,  Mr.  Walcott  says:  “That  is  not  all.  Remov¬ 
ing  the  men  that  the  land  may  be  vacant  for  German  occupation,  Ger¬ 
many  does  more.  Women  left  captive  are  enslaved.  Germany  makes 
all  manner  of  lust  its  instrumentality. 

“Coolly,  deliberately,  officers  of  the  German  staff,  permeated  by 
this  monstrous  philosophy,  discuss  the  denationalization  of  peoples, 
the  destruction  of  nations,  the  undoing  of  other  civilizations,  for  Ger¬ 
many’s  account.” 

Knowing  all  this,  can  the  American  people  talk  of  any  peace  by 
negotiation?  Can  they  stop  this  war  until  this  mad  dog  of  nations  is 
freed  from  the  military  rulers  who  teach  frightfulness  from  the  cradle, 
and  will  only  seize  a  respite  now  to  prepare  themselves  for  further 
conquests? 


II! 


BECAUSE  GERMANY,  HAVING  SPLIT  THE  WORLD  IN 
HALF,  IS  NOW  TRYING  TO  DEVOUR  THE  HALVES 


We  are  fighting  Germany,  for  one  thing,  because  Germany,  having 
split  the  world  in  half,  is  now  seeking  to  devour  the  halves  separately. 
She  has  driven  a  wedge  straight  through  the  heart  of  Europe,  and  into 
Asia,  and  is  seeking  to  extend  it  to  the  Persian  gulf. 

This  is  no  accidental  happening,  due  to  the  downfall  of  Russia 
and  the  sudden  shifting  in  the  fortunes  of  war.  Germany  planned  it 
all  decades  ago.  She  made  no  effort  to  keep  the  plans  secret.  She 
told  us  all  about  it.  She  had  a  reputation  for  making  plans  and 
sticking  to  them,  from  one  generation  to  another;  yet  the  world  paid 
no  attention.  It  seemed  too  preposterous  even  for  Germany  to  attempt. 

As  long  ago  as  1895  a  pamphlet,  “Pan-Germany  and  Central  Europe 
About  1950,”  was  published  in  Berlin  and  had  wide  circulation.  It 
laid  the  whole  Mitteleuropa  plan  bare  as  follows: 

“Poland  and  Little  Russia  (the  kingdom  to  be  established  at  Rus¬ 
sia’s  expense)  will  agree  to  have  no  armies  of  their  own,  and  will 
receive  in  their  fortresses  German  and  Austrian  garrisons.  In  Poland, 
as  well  as  in  little  Russia,  the  postal  and  telegraph  services  as  well  as 
the  railways  will  be  in  German  hands.” 

PLANNED  LAND  GRAB  FOR  TWENTY  YEARS 

For  twenty-three  years,  one  sees,  Germany  had  been  planning  this 
land  grab.  But  the  plan  was  modest  then.  Even  the  Germans  did  not 
dream  that  Russia  would  be  such  easy  prey,  and  thought  that  they 
would  have  to  fight  for  what  they  got  from  her. 

In  1911  Tannenberg’s  book,  “Greater  Germany,”  was  published. 
This  was  only  three  years  before  the  war,  but  it  showed  that  the  idea 
of  a  German  Mitteleuropa  had  not  been  allowed  to  languish.  It 
says: 

“The  new  kingdom  of  Poland  is  made  up  of  the  former  Russian 


14  Why  We  Fight 

portion,  of  the  basin  of  the  Vistula,  and  of  Galicia,  and  forms  a  part 
of  the  new  Austria.” 

How  the  plan  has  grown  since  then!  Russia’s  collapse  dropped 
whole  provinces  into  the  lap  of  the  kaiser,  and  now  Germany  plans  its 
empire  on  a  scale  which  would  dwarf  that  of  ancient  Rome.  It  is  to 
embrace  original  Central  Europe,  inhabited  by  some  73,000,000  Ger¬ 
mans  and  100,000,000  vassals,  make  the  Black  Sea  a  German  lake,  and 
extend  clear  to  the  Persian  gulf,  through  the  states  of  Bulgaria  and 
Turkey.  Nor  is  this  all.  Already  German  dispatches  are  talking  of 
the  way  being  opened  to  India  and  the  Orient. 

The  German  government  started  to  put  its  scheme  for  a  Mittel- 
europa  into  effect  years  ago  when  it  began  the  construction  of  the 
Berlin-to-Bagdad  railway.  Little  Serbia  stood  in  the  way,  so  Serbia 
was  attacked  and  the  world  was  plunged  into  war.  In  the  opposite 
corner  of  Europe  Belgium  was  invaded  and  crushed.  The  world  then 
thought  that  this  was  only  because  Belgium  offered  the  easiest  route 
to  France;  but  study  of  the  Mitteleuropa  plan  of  years  ago  shows  that 
Belgium  was  included  in  the  scheme  of  conquest.  So  it  was  taken. 
The  German  plan,  well  advertised  long  before  the  war,  also  includes 
Holland.  Holland  has  not  yet  been  taken,  but  it  stands  trembling  in 
awe  of  German  might;  and  it  takes  no  prophet  to  show  that  Holland 
will  be  seized,  with  its  rich  colonies,  should  Germany  be  finally  vic¬ 
torious  in  this  war. 

MITTELEUROPA  NOW  WITHIN  GERMAN  GRASP 

Mitteleuropa,  with  Germany  in  a  position  to  say  who  shall  and 
who  shall  not  pass  from  Western  Europe  to  the  Orient,  through  her 
control  of  land  routes  and  of  submarine  bases  which  would  make  the 
sea  impassable,  today  is  an  accomplished  fact  in  the  German  mind. 
Only  a  crushing  victory  for  the  Allies  on  the  western  front  can  wrest 
it  from  her. 

“How  does  all  this  affect  America?”  one  may  ask.  Germany  was 
a  late  comer  in  the  family  of  great  nations.  Most  of  the  uncivilized 
world  had  been  preempted  by  other  nations  before  she  arrived.  Ger¬ 
many  wanted  colonies.  To  get  them  she  would  have  to  take  them 
away  from  someone  else. 

Africa  and  South  America  offered  the  best  fields  for  German 
colonization.  England  possessed  the  best  part  of  Africa — the  parts 


Why  We  Fight 


15 


in  which  the  white  man  might  hope  to  settle  and  thrive.  England  had 
a  mighty  fleet,  and  a  disposition  to  hold  what  she  had,  even  though 
she  did  not  show  a  disposition  to  fight  for  more. 

There  remained  South  America.  It  was  divided  among  weak  na¬ 
tions.  It  was  protected  only  by  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  This  Monroe 
Doctrine  was  a  sacred  thing  to  Americans,  but,  not  being  backed  up 
by  mighty  armies  and  fleets,  was  not  even  a  “scrap  of  paper”  to  the 
Germans.  Can  anyone  doubt,  should  Germany  succeed  in  welding  into 
a  mighty  empire  the  73,000,000  Germans  and  the  100,000,000  inhabi¬ 
tants  of  the  vassal  and  conquered  states  of  her  Mitteleuropa,  that  her 
next  step  would  be  toward  the  west.  The  very  fact  that  she  had  this 
empire  would  presuppose  the  defeat  of  England,  so  that  no  British 
fleet  would  stand  between  us  and  Germany  when  the  time  came  for 
the  kaiser  to  send  his  legions  across  the  Atlantic. 

On  land  Germany  would  be  able  to  put  into  the  field  an  army  of 
30,000,000,  not  the  mere  ten  or  twelve  million  as  now,  and  no  European 
state  would  dare  to  move  to  thwart  her. 

MONROE  DOCTRINE  SCORNED  BY  GERMANS 

This  plan  has  been  just  as  well  advertised  as  her  others.  Ger¬ 
many  makes  no  attempt  to  conceal  her  scorn  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine. 
Influential  Germans  have  told  us  in  writings  and  speeches  how  they 
would  treat  it.  They  practically  set  the  date. 

How  much  more  definite  the  German  plans  for  world  conquest 
have  become  is  shown  by  her  action  in  Russia.  A  year  ago  Germany 
was  anxious  to  make  a  separate  peace,  “without  annexations  and  in¬ 
demnities.”  Then  Russia  collapsed  and  made  peace,  but  Germany 
went  right  on  making  conquests.  Germany  encouraged  Ukrainia  to 
form  itself  into  a  separate  state,  and  then  made  an  ally  of  it.  German 
troops  marched  with  the  Ukrainians  to  Odessa,  on  the  pretext  of  aiding 
them  to  expel  the  Bolsheviki  from  Ukrainian  territory,  but  when  Odessa 
fell,  what  did  the  German  wireless  message  that  came  across  the  sea 
say?  That  Odessa  had  been  restored  to  the  Ukrainians?  Not  at  all. 
It  said: 

“Odessa  today  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Germans.  This  opens  a 
way  for  German  armies  to  Persia,  India  and  the  Orient.” 

The  fact  that  Persia  is  supposedly  neutral  does  not  bother  the 
Germans  at  all. 


16 


Why  We  Fight 


“strong  peace”  now  the  german  aim 

“As  in  the  East,  so  in  the  West,”  is  a  motto  which,  of  recent  weeks, 
has  been  much  heard  in  Germany.  At  a  conference  of  the  National 
Liberal  party,  held  in  March  of  this  year,  the  following  amazingly 
frank  declaration  was  made: 

“Our  policy  has  been  directed  to  making  the  government  and  ma¬ 
jority  turn  away  from  the  Reichstag  resolutions  of  July  19.  (Peace 
without  annexations  and  indemnities.)  In  that  we  have  succeeded. 
Peace  has  just  been  made  in  the  East  under  conditions  in  flat  contra¬ 
diction  to  the  policy  of  July  19,  and  has  received  the  support  and 
assent  of  all  the  bourgeois  parties.” 

In  other  words,  all  Germany  is  now  planning  both  annexations  and 
indemnities,  such  as  will  leave  her  without  a  formidable  opponent  in 
the  world. 

The  Berlin  Lokal  Anzeiger ,  only  recently,  openly  advocated  the 
annexation  of  the  Belgian  coast  and  the  French  districts  of  Longwy 
and  Brie. 

Can  we  make  peace  now  and  leave  Germany,  flushed  with  victory, 
in  possession  of  all  she  has  gained  and  lusting  for  further  conquest? 
If  we  did,  would  not  the  whole  world  live  in  perpetual  terror  of  Ger¬ 
man  aggression,  each  country  awaiting  its  turn  to  be  gobbled  up? 
Can  any  red-blooded  American  talk  about  peace  without  victory — 
victory  so  decisive  that  Germany  will  be  forced  to  disgorge  all  it  has 
seized,  and  the  German  menace  be  removed  from  the  world  forever? 


IV 


BECAUSE  GERMANY,  FOR  YEARS,  SOUGHT  TO  UNDER¬ 
MINE  OUR  GOVERNMENT  AND  OUR  IDEALS 


We  are  fighting  Germany  for  the  right  to  live  our  own  lives  as 
we  see  fit.  We  are  fighting  for  our  laws,  our  ideals,  our  homes,  our 
institutions. 

‘‘But  how,”  one  may  ask,  “were  all  these  things  threatened  by  Ger¬ 
many  before  the  war  started?  It  is  easy  to  see  how  they  may  be 
threatened  now,  for  if  we  are  defeated  we  are  lost,  but  before  the  war 
started  did  Germany  menace  those  things  we  hold  most  sacred?” 

Let  the  Germans  themselves  answer.  After  you  have  read  the  evi¬ 
dence  out  of  their  own  mouths,  you  may  decide  whether  or  not  Ger¬ 
many  planned  to  upset  our  institutions,  our  ideals,  our  very  mode  of 
life. 

We  went  into  the  war  April  6,  1917.  The  evidence,  given  here 
from  German  sources,  all  dates  back  to  before  that  time. 

In  1901  the  National  German-American  Alliance  was  formed  in 
the  United  States.  In  1907  it  was  incorporated  by  act  of  Congress. 
In  April,  1918,  it  gave  up  its  charter  to  escape  further  congressional 
investigation.  One  of  the  objects  of  the  Alliance,  as  officially  an¬ 
nounced,  was  “to  check  nativistic  encroachments.”  In  other  words,  to 
keep  the  Germans  from  becoming  Americans.  Another  object  was  “to 
awaken  and  strengthen  the  sense  of  unity  among  the  people  of  German 
origin  in  America.” 

SOUGHT  TO  INFLUENCE  AMERICAN  POLITICS 

Still  another  was  “to  combat  Puritan  influences,  particularly  in  the 
form  of  restrictions  upon  the  liquor  traffic.” 

“The  Alliance,”  its  preliminary  statement  of  aims  concludes,  “is 

pledged  to  bring  its  entire  organization  to  the  support  of  any  state 
federation  which  is  engaged  in  the  struggle  for  any  of  these  objects.” 

It  was  pledged,  in  other  words,  to  have  its  members  vote,  not  as 


18 


Why  We  Fight 


individuals  but  as  German-controlled  units,  for  or  against  anything  of 
which  they  did  not  approve. 

The  desire  for  resisting  “nativistic  encroachments”  was  particularly 
abhorrent  to  American  ideals,  because  the  effort  in  this  country  has 
always  been  to  keep  politics  free  from  racial  or  religious  influences. 
Yet  here  was  a  body,  proclaiming  itself  German  in  origin  and  thought, 
seeking  to  perpetuate  this  German  feeling  in  the  midst  of  America. 

From  its  very  start  the  Alliance  sought  to  foment  discord  with 
England.  It  always  spoke  of  the  American  press  as  “the  Anglo-Amer¬ 
ican”  press,  and  its  carried  out  a  long  and  well  directed  campaign  for 
the  introduction  of  the  German  language  into  the  schools  and  its  use 
in  civil  life.  It  did  not  want  its  members  to  become  Americanized 
even  sufficiently  to  speak  to  their  brothers  in  the  land  of  their  adoption 
in  the  language  of  this  country. 

“The  National  Alliance,”  according  to  an  issue  of  its  official  Bulle¬ 
tin  before  this  nation  entered  the  war,  “is  waging  war  against  Anglo- 
Saxonism,  against  the  fanatical  enemies  of  personal  liberty  and  polit¬ 
ical  freedom,  it  is  combating  narrow-minded  benighted  know-nothing- 
ism,  the  influence  of  the  British,  and  the  enslaving  Puritanism,  which 
had  its  birth  in  England.” 

THREATENS  THOSE  WHO  OPPOSE  GERMANY 

Again,  in  another  issue  of  the  Bulletin,  it  says:  “Our  own  prestige 
depends  upon  the  prestige  of  the  Fatherland,  and  for  that  reason  we 
cannot  allow  any  disparagement  of  Germany  to  go  unpunished.” 

“The  race  war  which  we  will  be  compelled  to  go  through  with  on 
American  soil  will  be  our  world  war,”  said  the  New  York  Staats  Zei- 
tung  in  fighting  a  proposal  to  amend  the  New  York  constitution  to  make 
ability  to  speak  and  write  the  English  language  a  requirement  for 
suffrage. 

Ludwig  Fulda  wrote  a  book,  “American  Impressions.”  They  were 
impressions  of  a  German  who  had  studied  this  nation  with  a  view  to 
seeing  it  ultimately  Germanized.  “Germanization  is  synonymous  with 
causing  to  speak  German,”  he  said,  “and  speaking  German  means  to 
remain  German.” 

This  may  throw  some  light  on  the  effort  to  perpetuate  the  sub¬ 
sidized  German  language  press  in  this  country.  If  immigrants  from 


Why  We  Fight  19 

Germany  spoke  and  read  English,  they  were  likely  to  become  Amer¬ 
icans. 

The  National  Alliance  called  upon  all  of  its  hundreds  of  local 
societies  to  work  for  the  enactment  of  laws  making  the  teaching  of  the 
German  language  in  the  public  schools  compulsory.  At  the  same  time 
it  was  helping  to  support  and  encourage  hundreds  of  schools  in  this 
country  in  which  the  instruction  was  entirely  in  German.  Had  there 
been  an  effort  made  to  make  the  teaching  of  the  language  of  this  nation 
compulsory  in  those  schools,  you  can  imagine  the  outcry  against  “per¬ 
sonal  liberty”  that  would  have  been  raised. 

FOSTERED  ALL  DISCONTENTED  ELEMENTS 

Wherever  there  were  signs  of  discontent,  of  a  movement  which  might 
tend  to  disrupt  this  country,  or  any  other  which  Germany  might  find 
as  a  commercial  rival,  the  German-American  Alliance  was  sure  to  be 
on  the  job.  It  gave  support  to  the  Irish- American  societies,  because 
these  societies,  before  the  war,  were  working  for  the  separation  of  Ire¬ 
land  from  England,  a  matter  in  which  Germany,  at  that  time,  could 
have  no  legitimate  interest.  But  Germany,  even  then,  was  preparing 
for  war,  and  was  doing  every  possible  thing  to  weaken  its  coming 
enemies.  A  disorganized  America,  one  filled  with  German  reservists, 
would  be  in  no  position  to  side  with  her  enemies,  Germany  figured. 
On  this  subject  the  much-quoted  Bernhardi  wrote: 

“Measures  must  be  taken  at  least  to  the  extent  of  providing  that 
the  German  element  is  not  split  up  in  the  world,  but  remains  united 
in  compact  blocks,  and  thus  forms,  even  in  foreign  countries,  political 
centers  of  gravity  in  our  favor.  The  isolated  groups  of  Germans 
abroad  greatly  benefit  our  trade,  since  by  preference  they  obtain  goods 
from  Germany;  but  they  may  also  be  useful  to  us  politically,  as  we 
discover  in  America.  The  German-Americans  have  formed  a  political 
alliance  with  the  Irish ;  and,  thus  united,  constitute  a  power  in  the  state 
with  which  the  American  government  must  reckon.” 

Can  there  be  anything  more  deliberate  than  this  statement  of  Ger¬ 
many’s  aims  to  mould  American  political  institutions  in  favor  of  the 
Fatherland?  How  far  they  had  succeeded  was  shown  by  the  actions  of 
some  members  of  our  Congress  and  Senate  just  before  and  after  war 
was  declared. 

With  the  outbreak  of  the  war  in  Europe  the  actions  of  the  German- 


20 


Why  We  Fight 


American  Alliance  became  bolder.  The  campaign  for  membership 
took  on  new  vigor.  An  address  was  issued  calling  upon  Americans  of^ 
German  origin  to  come  to  a  consciousness  of  their  duty,  to  hold  fast 
to  their  language  and  to  the  customs  and  culture  of  their  fathers. 
Efforts  were  made  to  scare  the  American  public  into  believing  that  war 
with  Japan  was  imminent,  though  Japan  was  engaged  in  fighting  Ger¬ 
many. 

GERMAN  PLOTS  AGAINST  THE  UNITED  STATES 

So  serious  were  the  plots  to  embroil  us  with  England  that  arrests 
were  made  here  of  persons  who  actually  planned  a  German-American 
invasion  of  Canada.  Mexico  was  so  stirred  up  by  German  intrigue 
that,  when  the  war  started,  many  persons  actually  believed  our  troops 
would  see  their  first  and  perhaps  hardest  fighting  on  the  Mexican  bor¬ 
der,  and  the  first  mobilization  was  toward  that  threatened  line.  An 
enormous  negro  uprising  was  actually  planned,  and  emissaries  were 
sent  here  to  foment  it  by  Germans  who  had  made  themselves  believe 
that  the  Southern  states,  with  their  large  negro  population,  could  be 
made  to  rebel.  The  utter  ridiculousness  of  the  plan  does  not  detract 
from  the  fact  that  Germany,  by  every  means  in  its  power,  was  trying 
to  disorganize  our  government  and  overthrow  our  institutions. 

Can  we  talk  of  peace  with  a  Germany  that,  even  in  times  of  peace, 
is  trying  to  disorganize  our  country,  foment  strife,  and  destroy  our 
unity,  simply  because  a  strong,  united  nation  on  the  other  side  of  the 
world  is  not  German?  Can  we  make  peace  with  a  country  that  fills 
our  land  with  paid  emissaries  in  an  effort  to  make  its  language  supplant 
our  own?  Can  we  talk  of  peace  while  a  government  that  considers 
the  world  its  prey  dominates  Germany? 

Or  shall  we  fight  until  the  world  is  delivered  from  this  German 
menace,  and  our  country  is  left  to  develop  its  own  institutions,  customs 
and  ideals  free  from  underhanded  interference  on  the  part  of  an  autoc¬ 
racy  across  the  sea? 


V 

BECAUSE  GERMANY  MENACES  THE  FREEDOM  OF  THE 
WORLD,  AND  RUSSIA  CAN  NO  LONGER  RESIST 


We  are  in  this  war  with  Germany  because  it  is  a  war  for  freedom 
more  truly  than  ever  before  was  a  war  fought  for  the  liberty  of  man. 
In  times  past,  it  is  true,  men  have  fought  for  freedom  from  oppressors. 
Sometimes  they  have  won  and  sometimes  they  have  lost.  »But  always 
there  has  been  a  place  in  this  big  world  where  those  who  had  lost  in 
the  struggle  at  home  might  go  and  find  a  country  where  they  might 
enjoy  the  liberty  they  loved. 

Now  all  is  different.  If  the  forces  which  are  fighting  for  freedom 
in  this  war  are  defeated,  there  will  be  no  place  in  the  whole  world  to 
which  they  may  go  to  find  a  refuge  from  Prussian  domination.  Every 
land  under  the  sun  will  be  directly  or  indirectly  under  control  of  the 
victor;  and  if  the  victor  is  autocracy,  freedom  perishes. 

The  land  where  freedom  is  most  imminently  menaced  by  the  legions 
of  Prussian  autocracy,  at  this  moment,  is  the  land  where  unwonted 
freedom  temporarily  has  run  riot  and  has  lost  the  power  to  fight  for 
itself — Russia.  We  are  fighting  for  the  freedom  of  Russia,  and  must 
continue  to  fight  for  it  until  Russia  learns  what  freedom  means,  and 
is  again  able  to  fight.  If  we  do  not  fight,  freedom  will  die  in  Russia; 
Prussian  autocracy  will  rule  and  exploit  the  country  for  its  own  ben¬ 
efit;  and  the  very  forces  which  overthrew  the  Czar  will  be  turned 
against  the  freedom  not  only  of  themselves,  but  of  other  lands. 

MIXED  SENTIMENTS  AS  TO  RUSSIA 

In  years  gone  by,  when  the  forces  of  revolution  were  showing 
themselves  here  and  there  in  Russia,  they  had  the  sympathy  of  America 
in  spite  of  the  methods  of  terrorism  of  which  we  did  not  approve. 
When  the  Czar  and  the  Kaiser,  leaders  of  autocracy,  were  locked  in  a 
death  grapple,  Russia  still  had  our  sympathy  because  she  was  fighting 
on  the  side  of  those  who  were  seeking  to  safeguard  the  world  from 
Prussian  militarism. 

When  the  Czar  was  deposed  over  night  American  feelings  were 


22 


W  h  y  We  Fight 


mixed.  There  was  joy  at  the  downfall  of  an  old,  and  sometimes  cruel 
autocracy,  but  there  was  fear  that  Russia  would  become  too  disorgan¬ 
ized  to  fight  further,  coupled  with  the  thought  that  perhaps  the  revolu¬ 
tion  had  come  too  soon  to  be  effective. 

Then  followed  the  brief  regime  of  Kerensky,  when  it  began  to  look 
as  though  freedom  in  Russia  might  be  an  organized  freedom,  prepared 
to  fight  for  its  rights,  and  all  America  hailed  the  Russian  revolution  as 
a  blessing.  It  had  become  absolutely  correct  to  say  that  the  war  was 
a  war  of  democracy  against  autocracy.  No  pro-German  could  longer 
point  to  the  Czar,  whenever  an  argument  arose. 

Finally  came  the  Bolshevik  revolution,  in  which  Kerensky  was  over¬ 
thrown.  Russian  industry  and  Russian  society  were  disorganized,  and 
Russian  armies  ceased  to  fight.  The  Kaiser’s  armies  pressed  on  unop¬ 
posed,  took  what  they  desired  in  spite  of  a  signed  peace,  and  Russia 
appeared  to  be  about  to  pass  completely  under  control  of  Germany. 
America  stood  aghast  at  the  prank  freedom  had  played,  and  American 
opinion  turned  largely  against  Russia,  but  thinking  men  refused  to  give 
up  hope.  Russia  was  and  still  is  incapable  of  offering  resistance,  but 
Russia  is  not  resigned  to  autocracy.  It  devolves  upon  others  to  fight 
for  the  freedom  Russia  must  have. 

RUSSIAN  COLLAPSE  BOLSTERS  UP  GERMANY 

The  Bolsheviki — literally,  the  masses — were,  on  many  sides,  accused 
of  being  in  league  with  the  Germans.  Trotsky  and  Lenine  were  ru¬ 
mored  to  be  accepting  German  pay.  Betrayal  of  the  revolution  for 
gold  was  alleged.  All  sorts  of  statements  were  made  and  discussed. 
None  of  them  has  ever  been  proved.  Russia  had  just  collapsed;  ignor¬ 
ant  Russians  refused  to  fight,  and  the  thwarted  lust  for  conquest  was 
renewed  in  German  hearts. 

The  experience  of  other  nations  has  been  that  men  who  loved 
freedom  were  willing  to  fight  for  it,  and  to  die  for  it  if  necessary. 
The  Russian  attitude  of  non-resistance  was  something  new  in  the  world, 
and  is  hard  to  understand.  The  Bolsheviki  represented  the  extreme 
idea  of  liberty.  To  them  freedom  meant  not  the  right  of  the  majority 
to  choose  their  form  of  government,  but  the  right  of  the  individual  to 
be  free  from  all  forms  of  governmental  restraint.  They  would  tear 
down  the  old  order  completely,  at  one  stroke,  and  set  up  the  millenium. 


Why  We  Fight 


23 


They  would  divide  the  land,  the  factories  and  the  tools  among  the  work¬ 
ers,  and  have  no  masters  henceforth. 

All  they  need  do,  the  leaders  believed,  was  to  tell  the  masses  of 
the  remainder  of  the  world,  what  they  were  doing,  and  the  world  would 
follow.  Why  should  they  fight  the  German  armies,  when  all  that  was 
necessary  was  to  show  the  Germans  themselves  how  easy  it  was  to 
establish  the  millenium? 

I 

DISORDER  FOLLOWS  BOLSHEVIK  REVOLUTION 

Even  in  Russia,  however,  there  were  dissenters.  Some  took  up 
arms;  and  the  Bolsheviki,  who  fought  the  Germans  not  at  all,  fought 
their  brothers  most  ferociously.  The  result  was  anarchy,  lawlessness, 
massacres,  the  disorganization  of  the  railways  and  the  failure  of  the 
food  supply.  The  millenium  refused  to  come  at  the  mere  decree  of  the 
Bolsheviki.  It  was  shown  that  there  must  be  organization  and  govern¬ 
ment  of  some  sort. 

But  still  the  Bolsheviki  clung  to  their  vain  hopes.  They  accepted 
an  ignominious  peace,  which  was  no  peace  at  all,  from  Germany,  and 
sat  supinely  while  German  fetters  were  being  forged  for  them.  They 
have  not  yet  awakened.  The  peasants  who  composed  their  armies  are 
rushing  home  to  be  there  when  the  land  is  distributed.  They  are  get¬ 
ting  as  far  from  the  battle  line  as  possible,  not  realizing  that  the  battle 
line  is  following  them.  They  dream  of  existence  in  which  one  labors 
because  he  alone  wills  it,  and  without  compulsion  of  any  sort — they 
who  have  been  driven  by  the  knout — not  realizing  that  an  even  more 
severe  taskmaster,  one  who  will  be  harsher  because  he  is  more  efficient, 
is  at  their  heels. 

The  Russian  peasant  believes  today  that  he  has  achieved  real  free¬ 
dom.  It  will  take  much  bitter  experience  to  teach  him  otherwise. 
While  he  is  getting  it,  the  United  States  and  its  allies  must  be  his 
guardians. 

GERMAN  PROPAGANDA  POISONS  PEASANT  MINDS 

Russia  will  no  longer  fight  side  by  side  with  her  former  allies. 
So  insidious  has  been  the  German  propaganda  that,  in  many  instances, 
Russian  hatred  of  the  allies  seems  to  be  deeper  than  hatred  of  Germany. 
Allowing  Germany  to  lop  off  her  richest  provinces,  containing  even 
her  capital,  Russia  turns  a  jealous  eye  toward  Japan  when  the  latter 


24 


Why  We  Fight 


country  professes  to  see  a  necessity  for  sending  troops  into  Siberia  to 
block  the  advance  of  Prussianism. 

Therefore  the  United  States  cannot  render  direct  aid  to  the  strug¬ 
gling  people  of  Russia.  She  cannot  send  them  armies  and  supplies, 
for  they  have  refused  to  do  battle  for  themselves.  To  fight  for  Russia 
she  must  fight  on  the  western  front.  She  must  do  her  share  toward 
humbling  the  Kaiser,  and  forcing  him  to  relinquish  his  grasp  on  the 
East. 

Russia  must  be  freed  from  Prussian  militarism.  After  that  no  one 
can  say  what  is  her  destiny.  She  may  break  up  into  lesser  states,  or 
may  be  rejuvenated  like  the  French  were  after  their  long  period  of 
disorganization  which  began  in  1789.  Any  number  of  things  may 
happen,  but  there  is  one  thing  that  cannot  be  allowed  to  come  to  pass. 
That  is  the  Kaiser  must  not  be  permitted  to  enthrall  the  people  who 
have  thrown  off  the  yoke  of  the  Czar,  for  if  he  does  he  will  organize 
them  into  a  yet  greater  military  machine  to  use  against  the  freedom 
of  the  world. 

That  is  why  we  cannot  talk  peace  with  Germany  as  long  as  the 
Kaiser  has  one  single  Russian  province  under  his  heel. 


VI 


BECAUSE  GERMAN  LUST  OF  CONQUEST  MENACES,  IN 
MANY  WAYS,  OUR  VERY  NATIONAL  EXISTENCE 


Any  one  of  the  reasons  why  we  are  at  war  with  Germany,  men¬ 
tioned  in  previous  articles  of  this  series,  would  be  sufficient  justification 
for  this  nation  taking  up  arms.  Only  extreme  patience,  coupled,  often, 
with  complete  failure  to  recognize  the  seriousness  of  the  German  men¬ 
ace  to  America  and  the  world,  kept  the  United  States  out  of  the  war 
for  nearly  three  years  before  it  finally  decided  to  join  in.  In  fact, 
justification  for  war  with  Germany  existed  years  before  the  conflict  in 
Europe  was  begun. 

It  has  been  shown  that  Germany,  for  years,  had  been  plotting  within 
our  borders,  encouraging  immigrants  to  become  citizens  and  at  the 
same  time  remain  faithful  to  the  kaiser.  She  filled  our  land  with  spies 
and  agents  of  disorganization  when,  to  all  outward  appearances,  rela¬ 
tions  between  America  and  Germany  were  of  the  most  friendly  char¬ 
acter. 

From  evidence  supplied  by  the  Germans  themselves,  it  has  been 
shown  that  Germany’s  doctrine  that  might  alone  is  right  would  menace 
the  very  independence  of  the  United  States  just  as  surely  as  it  destroyed 
that  of  Serbia  and  Belgium,  just  as  soon  as  Germany  felt  herself 
strong  enough  to  make  a  formal  attack.  German  lust  of  conquest  knew 
no  bounds. 

GERMAN  PLANS  FOR  WORLD  CONQUEST 

Events  of  the  last  year  have  proven  that  Germany,  having  split 
the  world  in  half  by  her  creation  of  Mitteleuropa,  extending  from  the 
Baltic  almost  to  the  Persian  gulf,  was  planning  to  devour  the  halves 
separately.  The  fact  that  our  half  of  the  world  was  being  reserved 
for  dessert  was  all  the  more  reason  why  we  should  enter  the  war  while 
a  part,  at  least,  of  the  other  half  was  still  making  resistance. 

Germany’s  efforts  to  build  up  compact  groups  of  Germanized  resi¬ 
dents  in  the  United  States,  and  to  dominate  our  politics  from  Berlin, 
extended  back  many  years  before  the  war.  Their  extent  was  never 


26 


Why  We  Fight 


realized  until  we  approached  the  time  to  enter  the  struggle,  when  the 
treacherous  power  of  the  Kaiser  began  to  be  felt  even  in  the  halls  of 
our  Congress. 

Finally,  when  the  collapse  of  Russia  revealed  the  fact  that  Germany 
was  fighting,  not  a  war  of  self  preservation,  but  one  of  conquest  pure 
and  simple,  and  that  the  freedom  of  the  entire  world  was  menaced,  any 
question  of  why  we  are  fighting  seemed  superfluous. 

The  military  party  in  Germany  started  the  war  because  it  believed 
the  time  ripe  for  conquest.  This  fact  alone  is  sufficient  justification 
for  any  nation,  standing  for  the  ideals  of  democracy  and  freedom,  to 
take  up  arms.  When  a  government  exists  which  will  wantonly  plunge 
a  world  into  war  just  to  extend  its  own  borders  and  its  own  trade,  it  is 
time  for  other  nations  to  fight. 

HELPLESS  NATIONS  THE  FIRST  ATTACKED 

Proof  that  ambition,  and  not  consideration  of  its  own  safety, 
prompted  German  to  begin  the  war  is  given  by  the  fact  that  Serbia 
and  Belgium,  two  helpless  little  nations,  were  the  first  attacked.  Serbia 
blocked  the  way  to  the  East  and  Belgium  to  the  West.  If  Germany 
would  attack  and  crush  helpless  little  nations,  with  scant  material  re¬ 
sources,  there  was  all  the  more  reason  to  believe  that  she  would  attack 
one  big  and  rich  and  helpless,  when  opportunity  offered.  In  fact,  there 
had  been  much  talk  in  Germany  long  before  we  entered  the  struggle, 
of  levying  an  indemnity  on  the  United  States  to  pay  Germany’s  war 
costs. 

Germany  had,  under  no  compulsion,  signed  a  solemn  treaty  to  pro¬ 
tect  the  neutrality  of  Belgium.  When  she  branded  this  treaty  “a  scrap 
of  paper,”  she  gave  proof  that  all  her  treaties  would  be  so  considered 
when  her  interests  demanded.  In  other  words,  Germany’s  invasion  of 
Belgium  meant  the  tearing  up  of  every  treaty  which  existed  between 
Germany  and  other  nations.  It  was  ample  justification  for  America 
going  to  war  at  that  moment. 

This  did  not  spur  America  at  the  time,  but  Germany’s  cruelties  in 
Belgium,  surpassing  anything  ever  before  known  in  modern  history, 
gave  further  evidence  that  the  world  was  not  safe  as  long  as  such  a 
government  existed  in  it.  If  Spanish  oppression  in  Cuba  was  sufficient 
justification  for  the  war  of  1898,  how  much  more  ground  did  America 
have  for  declaring  war  because  of  German  barbarity  in  Belgium? 


Why  We  Fight 


27 


At  the  very  outset  of  the  struggle  in  Europe,  Germany  gave  proof 
that  no  treaties  or  conventions  would  govern  her  acts.  She  bombarded 
undefended  cities,  enslaved  conquered  populations,  engaged  in  pillage 
and  terrorism  of  the  most  wanton  kind.  She  disregarded  all  the  stipu¬ 
lations  which  had  been  made  at  The  Hague  convention,  and  flung  inter¬ 
national  law  to  the  winds.  What  more  justification  could  we  have 
needed  than  all  this  cumulative  proof  that  a  buccaneer  nation  was 
abroad  in  the  world,  and  that  no  one’s  rights  were  sacred? 

MURDER  OF  THE  INNOCENTS  AT  SEA 

Then  came  Germany’s  conduct  on  the  sea.  With  her  battle  fleet 
cravenly  seeking  shelter  behind  the  defenses  of  the  Kiel  canal,  Germany 
sent  out  her  submarines  and  began  a  war  on  unarmed  merchantmen. 
Women  and  children  were  her  victims.  American  citizens  by  the  score 
went  down  to  death  on  the  Lusitania.  The  United  States  made  a  pro¬ 
test,  and  Germany  promised  to  mend  her  ways.  This  she  did,  for  a 
time,  until  she  could  build  a  fleet  of  bigger  and  better  submarines,  and 
then  her  pirate  sea  warfare  broke  out  with  fresh  vigor.  Vessels  of 
neutral  nations  were  subjected  to  the  same  treatment  as  those  of  Ger¬ 
many’s  foes,  and  an  insolent  warning  was  sent  to  this  country  that  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  could  float  on  the  Atlantic  ocean  only  by  German 
permission,  and  under  the  most  humiliating  conditions.  How  could 
we  keep  out  of  war  when  Germany,  after  ruthlessly  killing  our  citizens, 
deliberately  closed  the  sea  to  us? 

German  plotters  and  spies,  under  the  direct  leadership  of  the  Ger¬ 
man  ambassador  to  this  country,  worked  almost  openly,  blowing  up 
industrial  plants,  sinking  ships  in  our  harbors,  and  menacing  railroads 
and  canals. 

Germany,  spurred  by  successes,  openly  began  to  announce  plans 
for  disciplining  the  United  States.  She  scoffed  at  the  Monroe  Doctrine, 
and  tried  to  create  a  German  state  in  Brazil  which,  in  time,  would  be 
strong  enough  to  bring  about  a  revolution  and  overthrow  the  demo¬ 
cratic  government  there.  She  tried  to  create  disunity  in  the  United 
States  itself,  and  forced  this  country,  at  last,  to  take  up  arms  to  preserve 
its  very  national  existence. 

MAKES  THE  WORLD  AN  UNSAFE  HABITAT 

By  her  huge  armaments,  her  disregard  of  treaties,  and  her  evident 


28 


Why  We  Fight 


reliance  on  force  alone,  Germany  was  rapidly  making  the  world  an 
unsafe  place  in  which  to  live,  forcing  all  other  nations  to  adopt  the 
military  system,  or  be  at  her  mercy.  The  German  military  policy, 
alone,  would  have  been  sufficient  justification  for  the  remainder  of  the 
world  to  combine  against  her,  even  though  she  had  not  begun  the  war 
when  she  did.  Nations  have  just  as  much  right  to  peace  and  security, 
as  do  individuals  who  employ  policemen  to  protect  them  from  bandits 
and  thieves. 

The  German  ambition  to  force  German  kultur  on  the  remainder  of 
the  world  was  well  exploited.  Kultur,  to  the  German  mind,  was  not 
what  culture  is  to  us.  It  was  the  whole  German  system,  of  government, 
of  commercialism  and  of  life.  There  was  no  place  for  democracy  in 
a  world  which  bore  the  stamp  of  German  kultur.  If  we  valued  our 
form  of  government,  we  had  to  go  to  war. 

Lastly,  Germany  stood  in  the  way,  an  insurmountable  obstacle,  to 
any  league  of  nations  which  might  be  formed  to  keep  the  peace  of  the 
world,  and  to  prevent  the  strong  from  preying  on  the  weak.  The  whole 
German  doctrine  has  been  that  Germany  should  grow  strong  at  the 
expense  of  her  neighbors.  Prussian  policy  for  centuries  has  been  to 
weaken  other  nations  that  Prussia  might  divide  and  conquer.  There 
could  be  no  hope  of  creating  a  league  of  nations  pledged  to  support 
right  and  justice,  so  long  as  the  Prussian  military  policy  prevailed. 

The  fight  which  England  and  France  took  up  from  the  beginning, 
and  in  which  Belgium  and  Serbia  laid  down  their  lives,  was  America’s 
fight  from  the  first,  and  America’s  fight  long  before  it  began,  had 
America  but  realized.  Now  America  does  realize,  and  America  cannot 
and  will  not  make  peace  until  the  Prussian  lust  for  conquest  is  curbed 
and  the  Prussian  military  power  crushed  for  all  time. 


. 


